Core literature and design goals

Core literature and design goals

Below we present seven articles provisionally considered to constitute the ‘core literature’ on design for people on the autistic spectrum. We hasten to add such a choice is more or less arbitrary.
The most important principles which are shared by the great majority of these diverse authors can be summarized in the 15 design parameters articulated by Khare & Mullick (out of 18) which overlap with the principles formulated in at least four of the other six articles. About no less than 8 of these 15 principles is unanimity. (The authors’ names are added behind the principle in question. Since we started with Khare & Mullick, they underwrite all of them.)

The formulation of these principles shows that almost all the articles concern children, with a strong emphasis on education. Ahrentzen & Steele are concerned with (assisted) independent living and this is an exception.
When authors don’t mention a particular principle it does not imply they don’t underwrite it: it often means they do, but don’t emphasize it in this particular article.
The articles – which are all quite easily found elsewhere on the Internet – are:

Ahrentzen, Sherry and Kim, Steele,Advancing Full Spectrum Housing: Designing for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Board of Regents, 2010. (Download here. These authors also wrote a book in 2016 which will be discussed here in due course.)

Later republished under another title: Humphreys, S ‘Autism & Architecture’. In: Link. Autism-Europe, 55(June)2011, p 9-13, 2011 (org 2008) PDF. See here for a short video interview with him.MostafaSee here for her experiment and here for a short video interview with her. (Second interview.)